Dirk’s words rattled Zack all the way back to his apartment. He wanted information on the Extremers. Instead what he had learned about Max Mann that had him questioning everything.

Maybe that’s just what Dirk Saber intended.

Perhaps now that Dirk knew Zack was aligned with Max Mann, he would seek to turn them against one another. Perhaps Dirk Saber was in Zack’s head all along, and this was simply another one of his mind-games.

Perhaps.

The problem was. most of what Zack had learned from Dirk Saber lined up. Max Mann had been cagey about the specifics of his conditions. He had only said his condition was “terminal”. In fact, Zack had said that part.

There was a good chance Max had been playing him from the start. Zack felt so flustered, he barely noticed Perry sitting on the front steps of his apartment. He unlocked his door and then turned to his friend, who stood up from the front steps.

“Well,” Zack said. “Is it fixed?”

“It is,” Perry said, without going into any more specifics.

Finally.

It’s time to get some answers.

“Excellent,” Zack said. Perry, for his part, didn’t seem too happy.

“I found something else,” Perry reported dryly. Zack followed him into the apartment.

What is it now?

Zack sighed and undid the secret door towards the basement after a courtesy glance for Icer waiting in the wings.

“What are you doing?” Perry asked.

“Just wanted to make sure we weren’t being interrupted,” Zack said.

“By who?” Perry questioned.

“It doesn’t matter,” Zack said as he headed down the stairs. Perry, for his part, didn’t offer any questions.

The Knightbrand suit stood, fully assembled, in the middle of the limestone basement. Zack could see Perry had fixed the arm, which had felt stiff during his impromptu conversation with Shaw the night before. Zack shivered just thinking about how that conversation with Shaw went, under the guise of his father.

Zack still couldn’t take enough showers quickly to get over that.

“So what’s the problem?” he asked Perry.

“This,” Perry said, tapping on the midsection of the armor.

Zack didn’t have to see Perry’s fingers to know where he was pointing. It was a patched place in armor, more irregular than the other spots. Zack had become very familiar with the rigors of repairing the armor, at least on the surface. Perry was pointing to a very specific break in the armor, to the blade wound which had killed his father.

Zack had patched it up to the best of his ability at the time. To the best of his knowledge, the piercing break hadn’t cut through any of the servos or any working of the Knightbrand armor. He had managed to fix it on his own, without enlisting the aid of another. And for the most part, it had held together and passed the scrutiny of anyone who encountered Knightbrand on the streets.

But Perry was different, and his microscopic vision caught the break right away.

“This rupture in the armor,” Perry said. “Would have almost certainly been fatal.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

He turned back to Zack, and crossed his chest.

Zack didn’t know what to say. Internally, he cursed himself. All this time he worried about Perry using his powers to deduce his identity, he forgot to account for Perry putting it all together himself. Now he was in the very position he wanted to avoid.

“I didn’t kill him,” Zack said, almost instinctively.

“But your father is dead,” Perry added. It was a statement, not a question.

Zack froze. He was overcome with emotions. The surprise of Perry’s query. The fear of rejection. The anxiety of the outcome. Finally, he went with the truth.

“Yes,” Zack said. “He is.”

Perry didn’t move. He didn’t say anything for a long time. Then he started to proceed up the steps.

“Perry, wait…” Zack said.

“How can I trust anything you say?” Perry said before he was halfway up the stairs.

“Because you know me and..” Zack started.

“I did know you,” Perry said. “And then you left. I don’t know what came back in your place..”

“I’m sorry,” Zack said. “I just didn’t know…”

Perry continued to move up the stairs, with each step a stab into Zack’s soul.

Zack needed to say something. He needed Perry to listen.

“I came home from football practice and found my dad covered in a pool of blood in the kitchen. When I got there, there was so much blood and I didn’t know what to do,” Zack said.

Perry stopped. He pivoted over to face him, but only so much.

“You call your friends. That’s what you do,” Perry said.

“He told me not to tell anyone. It was literally his last words,” Zack said. Perry sighed and started to slowly come down the stairs.

“And when have you done anything your father told you to do?” Perry asked.

Perry, as always, was right. From school sports to Sideclique, Zack had a habit of doing the exact opposite of whatever his father wanted.

“You got me there,” Zack said with a flicker of a smile.

Perry made his way down the stairs and reached the landing. He looked at the suit before glancing back at Zack.

“And you came here to find his killer,” Perry said. “You really think they’re on campus.”

“I do,” Zack said. “But I didn’t know you were going here. Or Scott. Or…”

“Rachel,” Perry said.

Zack nodded. “That goes without saying.”

Perry put his arms across his chest. “So how are you going to find who did it?”

“I have a suspect,” Zack said. “I recorded him in a fight. I need the data downloaded and analyzed.”

Perry began to pace around the room. Zack started to speak, but thought better of it. It was better to let Perry do his thing.

“But you’re going to corrupt the data before you even remove it,” Perry said. “And even if you did, you have idea what you are looking for. I mean, I don’t even think you can spell algorithm.”

“That’s…maybe true?” Zack said. He couldn’t spell to save his life.

“So what you’re really going to need is someone to get the data and run this program for you,” Perry said.

Zack’s eyes lit up.

“I guess you’re right,” Zack said with a smirk. “You know anyone who fits the bill?”

“No,” Perry said and started to walk away, leaving Zack dumbfounded.

Perry turned around. His expression looked suddenly weary. Zack had forgotten how much shorter Perry was than him.

“I do know one guy. But he’s not cheap,” Perry said.

“Oh yeah,” Zack said with a smile. “What’s he cost? I did come into some money from my inheritance.”

“Total and complete honesty from here on out,” Perry said.

Zack started to think about it. He had laid his cards on the table and this is where it got him. Perry was the only person who could help him. And now he knew his circumstances. He had a new ally - and more importantly, one person he could trust.

“Deal,” Zack said. He’d read Perry on slowly. He knew most of the big picture stuff. After all, Zack had only left out that he’d forged an alliance with a C-list supervillain, but surely, that part could wait.

Perry clasped his hands. “But Zack?”

Zack raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, Perry?”

“Next time you want to go on a roaring rampage of revenge across the globe,” Perry said. “A text would be nice.”

“Thanks, Perry,” Zack said. “I’ll keep this in mind for next time.”

And just like that, Zack remembered something he had forgotten two years ago.

It was good to have friends.